


I Hate You... A Little.

by Can_o_tuna_balism, KatsiaDreyar



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-20
Updated: 2017-01-09
Packaged: 2018-04-16 06:12:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4614255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Can_o_tuna_balism/pseuds/Can_o_tuna_balism, https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatsiaDreyar/pseuds/KatsiaDreyar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natsu and Gray are coming home from a job when they are attacked by Wyvren. When Natsu has to take care of a wounded Gray what will come of this awkward experience.</p>
<p>This is only the first chapter written by me(KatsiaDreyar). I know its short but it will be continued soon by my co-writer. Please enjoy and I am sorry about the weird way the chapter ends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Returning From the Wreckage

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first collab with my good friend: theclassiestlesbian (Who has never watched or read Fairy Tail she simply puts up with my rants) I hope you enjoy this story as much as we enjoyed writing it. ~KatsiaDreyar
> 
> Disclaimer: As usual I own nothing.   
> Characters, Setting and storyline all belong to the wonderful Hiro Mashima!   
> Please don't sue me, but if you find something unsatisfying with my work feel free to poke me with a spork.   
> Kudos, Comment and Follow! I love hearing from you guys!

“Natsu, seriously, did you have to completely destroy that village? All we were there to do was stop some bandits Flame Brain!” 

“Well I didn’t see you doing anything Droopy Drawers!” 

Natsu and Gray were walking through the Boundary Forest on their way back from a job in Veronica. They had been asked to capture some rogue bandits and as usual Natsu got carried away. 

“Dammit Natsu, can’t you ever restrain yourself a little? Gramps has enough on his plate without you going and leveling towns all the goddamn time!” 

Natsu turned his head away in a furious pout, “Whatever, I had to pick up the slack somehow. As always, you holding back almost let them get away.” 

“Why you!” Gray pulled back his fist to punch Natsu but froze as two large Wyvern appeared out of the trees. 

There was a moment of stillness before the monster’s attacked in which Gray called out, “I’ll show you that I don’t need to go full out to win a little fight!” and then dove into his attacker. 

They had been fighting for about six minutes when Natsu heard ice shatter, he looked over to see Gray thrown into the trunk of a tree. 

Natsu watched as Gray shakily started to stand with obvious pain in his ribs, only to be knocked right back into the trunk by a strong swat from the Wyvern’s claw, with a sickening crunch. The large tree snapped in two with the force of Gray’s body colliding with it. The severed trunk swayed slightly before crashing to the ground right on top of Gray’s unconscious body, trapping him underneath it. 

“Gray!” Natsu shouted as he engulfed his opponent in flames and causing it to run off in fright. 

He then turned and walked slowly toward the Wyvern that had attacked Gray. 

“Alright…” he said in a deadly soft voice, “Now I’m angry!” 

He lunged at the beast attacking it with every bit of dragon slaying magic he could muster until the entire area around them was nothing but ashes and the second monster had run off badly wounded. 

He ran over to Gray and lifted the remnants of the tree off of him. He quickly checked to see if he was still alive before lifting his limp body gently and walking a little deeper into the forest. 

“Stupid Gray always trying to show off…”


	2. Natsu to the rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grey is still unconscious after the fight with the Wyverns, which, to be honest, only occurred about twenty minutes before this chapter starts. Natsu, stuck with an unconscious Grey, is forced to set up camp and look after his injured teammate. 
> 
> I'm sorry if my writing sucks. The next chapter will be written by my fabulous co-author KatsiaDreyar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a bit of a disclaimer: I didn't actually read the manga or watch the anime.... I'm sorry.
> 
> Another Disclaimer: We don't own the characters. 
> 
> Also, I can't figure out how to make certain things italicized, so until I can figure out if that's possible, I'm sorry for any confusion this causes.

Grey was heavier than he looked. Not that Natsu had ever put much thought into how much Grey would weigh, but still. Natsu’s arm was slowly going numb from having Grey’s limp body slung over his shoulder and he was still no closer to figuring out what he was going to do while Grey was out.

The first step was obvious: beat the crap out of the Wyverns and hopefully give them something more to worry about than a couple of nasty burns. But then Grey groaned in pain and Natsu realized that the Wyverns would have to wait. 

“Stupid Grey… getting beaten up by those stupid Wyverns… leaving me to save his sorry ass....” Natsu grumbled.

Grey aside, he’d been walking for almost twenty minutes and was now officially lost. He was hot - not in the way he would have liked - and tired. What he needed was to find somewhere where he could set up camp and look after the extremely useless, and very unconscious, Grey.

Raising his free hand to wipe sweat from his brow, he looked up through the overhanging branches to the sky above. Unfortunately, his momentary lapse in concentration found him tumbling down a hill. 

“Oof!” he yelped as he skidded to a stop in a clearing. He tried to get up, but couldn’t.

“Aw crap, please tell me I did not just break my legs! Damnit!” he exclaimed. Closer inspection of his situation, though, revealed Grey, once again, as the source of his problem. The idiot had managed to get himself tangled up in Natsu’s limbs during the fall, which was what had hindered him in getting up. 

Shoving Grey unceremoniously off of him, Natsu stood up and dusted himself off. Instantly, though, he felt bad about his actions, and moved Grey over to sit next to a tree, his back against the trunk. 

Looking around the clearing, he managed to locate his bag, but not Grey’s. "It probably rolled off into the bushes… but I can’t go get it when Grey’s like this…." He mused. 

In fact, he couldn’t do much with Grey in his current state, which just went to prove how useless Grey was. 

Scratching the back of his head, he sighed loudly and sat down with a huff on a nearby tree stump and proceeded to search his bag. 

"Good thing I actually remembered to pack bandages this time around", he thought, pulling them out of his bag. 

After that, setting up camp was easy. In no time he had a fire going and his tent up. He only had one tent (and one mattress) for the both of them, but he didn’t want to focus on that too much. He’d think of a solution to that particular problem when he had the time. 

Walking over to Grey, he carried him over to where he had laid out the bandages from his bag. He used the water from a canteen that had been in his bag to wet a few of the bandages. 

Just as he was about to place one of the bandages onto Grey’s wounds, he stopped himself. Up until that point, he hadn’t really noticed that Grey was practically naked, a byproduct of the stripping he usually did while he was fighting, but now it was all he could do to not notice it. What was more, the thought of touching Grey’s torso, even while he was awake, made him uncomfortable in a way he couldn’t quite define. But touching Grey’s naked torso while he was asleep? That was a whole new level of discomfort. 

But he hadn’t been taught to leave a teammate when they were in pain, and even though Grey could be a pain in the ass, they were still teammates, right?

Pushing down his discomfort, Natsu began to bandage Grey’s wounds, most of which were on his chest, his right shoulder, and his sides. 

There was one moment, when Natsu was bandaging his chest, where Grey had moaned, making Natsu blush and wince all at the same time - a reaction that made him curse Grey’s stupidity - but other than that, the task passed without incident. 

Once Grey had been taken care of, Natsu carried him into the tent and placed him gently on the bed. Tucking him in under the blanket, Natsu cast one last look at Grey’s still and sleeping form before leaving the tent. 

Resigning himself to a sleepless night spent on guard duty, Natsu stared up at the night sky and prayed for morning to come quickly.


	3. The Next Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first collab with my good friend: theclassiestlesbian (Who has never watched or read Fairy Tail she simply puts up with my rants) I hope you enjoy this story as much as we enjoyed writing it. ~KatsiaDreyar
> 
> Disclaimer: As usual I own nothing.   
> Characters, Setting and storyline all belong to the wonderful Hiro Mashima!   
> Please don't sue me, but if you find something unsatisfying with my work feel free to poke me with a spork.   
> Kudos, Comment and Follow! I love hearing from you guys!

The morning came slowly. As the first rays of dawn filtered through the trees, Natsu stood up and walked a little ways across the clearing to the strip of river. Reaching into his bag he pulled out a fishing rod and started expertly catching fish to eat while Gray continued to sleep. After about an hour later he walked back to the campsite and began to cook up the fish. “Fire Dragon Roar,” Natsu muttered as he blew his fire onto the fish. 

He paused his cooking to look towards the tent where he heard Gray moving around, and then a loud yelp sounded from just inside the flaps of the entrance. 

Sighing Natsu walked over and opened the tent, “Morning Ice Princess. You ready to eat some breakfast?” 

Gray scowled as Natsu lifted him up and carried him to the tree beside the fire pit. 

“Put me down Flame Brain! I don’t need you to carry me around, I’m fine!” 

Natsu tried to place him down on his feet only to have Gray’s legs give out, leaving him half-way holding Gray and half having Gray clinging to his shirt in attempt to not fall. Natsu’s face went as pink as his hair. He caught a glimpse of Gray’s face that had gone bright red as he refused to look at Natsu in his own embarrassment. 

Looking away Natsu slowly lowered Gray to the ground and handed him a cooked fish. After he had eaten his fill Natsu walked over with more bandages to try and rebandage him as some of the strips had been soaked with blood in the night. 

“What do you think you are doing?” Gray snapped leaning away from Natsu. 

“I have to freshen up your bandages, chill out.” 

“No get off of me! I don’t need your help I can do it myself! Argh!” He clutched his shoulder in pain and Natsu finally had enough. 

“Damnit Gray will you look at yourself! You have been completely beaten up to the point that you can’t stand and you are still acting like a child!” 

Gray tried to move away from Natsu but froze when he was cut off by Natsu’s arms on either side of the tree beside him. He turned and found himself nearly nose to nose with Natsu while being pinned to the tree. 

“Gray listen to me, you can’t be so reckless all the time.” 

“But I wasn’t-” 

“You were holding back to prove a point and now you are hurt and it’s not like I can heal you like Wendy!” 

Moving closer to Gray, Natsu gave him an intense and serious look. 

“You idiot!” Natsu growls deeply into Gray’s ear, “Do you really think that I would ever be able to show my face at the guild if you died while on a job with me?” 

Softer he whispered his voice choked with emotion, “Do you think I could live with myself if you died all because you were trying to teach me a lesson?” 

Natsu leaned his forehead onto Gray’s shoulder as a tear dripped from his cheek and onto Gray’s collar bone. Gray, not knowing how to react to the current situation touched Natsu’s cheek lightly and moved his face so that their foreheads were touching.

“I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry. I promise that I won’t be so reckless and underestimate my enemy ever again. Just please, don’t cry Natsu. I’m okay, I’ll be fine.” 

With that Natsu cried softly in front of Gray as Gray held him gently while running his hands through the Dragon Slayer’s hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time with theclassiestlesbian. ;)


	4. Angst.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Look at the Chapter Title.
> 
> This chapter was written by theclassiestlesbian (I wish I could change my username as it doesn't apply... I'm not cisgender... aaaaahhhh). Also, I'm sorry if this is OOC, I've never actually watched or read Fairy Tail... sorry. I promise everything will be back to normal when KatsiaDreyar writes the next chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first collab with my good friend: theclassiestlesbian (Who has never watched or read Fairy Tail they simply puts up with my rants) I hope you enjoy this story as much as we enjoyed writing it. ~KatsiaDreyar
> 
> Disclaimer: As usual I own nothing.   
> Characters, Setting and storyline all belong to the wonderful Hiro Mashima!   
> Please don't sue me, but if you find something unsatisfying with my work feel free to poke me with a spork.   
> Kudos, Comment and Follow! I love hearing from you guys!

Gray wasn’t sure what to make of what was going on between himself and Natsu. He’d woken up that morning with the worst headache only to find that he could barely walk. Next thing he knew, he was trapped against a tree with Natsu’s face only inches away from his own and he’d be a damned liar if he said his heart hadn’t begun to beat just a little bit faster. 

 

Now, he was sitting next to the fire that Natsu had started sometime earlier that morning, clutching his injured ribs. He’d been staring off into the distance, replaying the events of the fight with the wyverns. Every attack. Every dodge. Every _ mistake _ .

 

He’d let Natsu’s words get to his head, had allowed himself to get as hot-headed as that pink haired idiot. 

 

Letting himself get lost in thought, he nearly jumped out of his skin when Natsu’s face suddenly appeared in front of his. Instead, he leaned back and tried to hide his embarrassment at having been surprised. 

 

“What?”

 

“Uhhh..” Natsu sat down next to Gray and handed him some food saying, “here… I made you this.” 

 

“Oh,” Gray paused, glancing down at the food. He took a bite and nearly choked on it.  _ Gross _ , he thought, but instead he managed to say after swallowing the food, “It’s very good.”

 

Natsu sighed with relief as if he’d expected Gray to cut up his cooking. At any other time, Gray would have, but he couldn’t bring himself to tease Natsu when he’d been nothing but nice to him since he’d gotten injured.

 

Placing the food down on the ground beside him, he leaned back, only to have his hand brush Natsu’s accidentally. 

 

Making to move his hand, he glanced sideways at Natsu to see if he’d noticed. From the quick glance he got of Natsu out of the corner of his eye, he could see Natsu staring at him intently with an expression he couldn’t quite define. 

 

“Hey… Gray…” Natsu mumbled. 

 

Gray turned to face Natsu just as Natsu leaned in slowly. Unable to move, and not sure he even wanted to, Gray felt Natsu’s hand trace up his arm slowly, finally coming to rest on his cheek. 

 

Leaning into the touch, Gray closed his eyes, feeling Natsu’s shaky breath on his face mere milliseconds before their lips met. The kiss was slow, tender, and Gray found himself getting lost in it. 

 

“Gray….” He thought he heard Natsu mutter. 

 

“Natsu,” he murmured back, pulling Natsu to him.

 

“Uhhhh…. Gray? Seriously, are you okay?” Gray opened his eyes to see Natsu sitting exactly where he had been before, Gray’s hand still resting on his. Swallowing hard, Gray realized that the kiss had all been in his imagination. Had he really just fantasized about kissing one of his team mates? And what’s more, Natsu?

 

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine… yepp… completely fine,” he said, moving his hand off of Natsu’s. 

 

“You sure? I think you might be getting a fever,” Natsu moved as if to press the back of his hand against Gray’s forehead, but Gray pulled back, attempting to stand before remembering how bad of an idea that was. 

 

Pain instantly shot up his side and he winced, dropping into a crouch. 

 

“Gray, seriously! What did I just talk to you about?!” Natsu yelled, crouching next to Gray. 

 

“No, I’m fine.” 

 

Pushing Natsu away when he tried to help him stand up, he muttered a quick ‘thanks again for the meal’ under his breath before hobbling over to the tent. Not sure what to do with himself, he flopped back onto the bed and proceeded to try and get some much needed rest. 

  
  
  


Gray was acting weird. Natsu didn’t know why, but his teammate was giving off some seriously weird vibes. He’d made the guy breakfast only to have Gray stare at him awkwardly for about two minutes when their hands had accidentally touched. Gray had even drooled ice cubes a little bit. Weird.

 

Now, Gray was sleeping inside the tent. Looking over at it, Natsu nudged the food he’d made Gray with his toe and scowled. He couldn’t believe that, after all he’d done for the guy, he’d be rude to him.  _ What a jerk.  _

 

Standing up, he walked slow circles around the coals of the campfire. He hadn’t bothered to get it going again, at least he wouldn’t until night began to fall. Eyes fixed on the simmering coals, he paced, thoughts swirling in his head, images of the fight, of worrying that Gray had finally made a mistake too grave to come back from. He thought of carrying Gray through the woods, of falling down the hill and then trying to bandage Gray, hoping against hope that his friend wasn’t mortally wounded. 

 

In the end, things had turned out fine, but now he had a whole new problem on his hands. Thoughts and feelings he couldn’t quite explain were swirling like fire in his stomach, and he wasn’t sure what to do with them.

 

Pausing in his pacing, he took one sharp inhale through his mouth and then began to speak, finally letting himself voice thoughts he wouldn’t have let anyone else hear. He talked about the moment he and Gray met, the times they’d fought. He voiced his apologies to Gray for always giving him a hard time. 

 

Finally, when he felt himself growing tired of speaking, he said, “Through it all, though, you’ve always been there for me. You’ve been my friend through thick and thin, and even though you bother the crap out of me, I’d rather give up my life than watch one of my teammates die. Sometimes I wonder if you feel the same. I mean, all of our constant bickering has always been in good fun, but even when I tell you these things, these feelings, you respond with nothing but defensiveness. It makes me wonder if my feelings will ever be returned.”

 

Coming to a stop in front of the slowly burning coals, Natsu looked down on them, not bothering to wipe the tears from his eyes. Unaware that the tent flap had moved behind him, Natsu lit the fire once more and sat down, staring up at the sky. 

 

Meanwhile, just inside the tent’s entrance, Gray wiped away a tear.  


	5. Bug Bites

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simply said, shit is going down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the shortness guys! Next Chapter is by my lovely partner TheClassiestLesbian.   
> Also go check out some of their other works if you like Avatar The Last Airbender!

Gray had been trying to get his head out of the clouds and focus when he heard Natsu start mumbling. Gray moved closer to the flap to hear what he was saying and was shocked. Natsu, his childhood rival, was talking to himself about the days they had spent together as kids, all the fights and… Apologising. Gray felt his eyes getting wet as Natsu spoke and he stifled a dry sob as Natsu’s voice became more choked as he spoke. 

Then, “It makes me wonder if my feelings will ever be returned.” 

Gray’s head popped up at those words as he moved away from the opening of the tent. His feelings? What were Gray’s feelings for Natsu? His mind recalled his fantasy of kissing Natsu. Shaking his head to clear it he wiped his eyes of tears and laid back on the floor of blankets beneath him. 

“Natsu…” Gray whispered softly. He was always yelling that name, he never recalled a moment when he had said it in such a gentle manner. It startled him that it felt nice to hear it. 

After a while Grey peeked out of the tent folds only to see Natsu fast asleep leaning against the tree. Smiling softly Gray crawled over to Natsu and ran his fingers through Natsu’s hair smiling at how soft it was. He watched Natsu closely as he slept enjoying the calm as he thought about how Natsu would react if he woke up right then. His mind fluttering over his daydream from earlier, why would that be in his mind? Did he really want Natsu in that way? Did Natsu really want him in that way?

All of a sudden Gray felt a sharp sting on the back of his neck. Swatting at it he pulled his hand away to reveal a Shitsumei Bug. Gray began to panic as his vision edged away. 

Grabbing at Natsu in an attempt to wake him up he choked out, his words heavy with fear, “Natsu! Natsu please wake up! Please!”

“Gray? What is going on? Oh no… Your eyes!” Natsu watched in horror as Gray’s eyes changed from dark blue to white. Natsu grabbed Gray’s arm and pulled him close placing his mouth over the sting Natsu began to suck on Gray’s neck. 

“N-Natsu?!” Gray gasped as the heat from Natsu’s lips sent shivers down his spine filling his cold body with warmth. He cried out softly as Natsu bit into his neck slightly he grabbed hold of Natsu’s vest and buried his face into his shoulder to stifle a moan.

Grey relaxed into Natsu’s touch. As his sight began to return, Natsu gently pulled away staring at Gray as colour slowly began to fade from his own eyes. 

“I’m glad you are the last person I get to see Ice Princess.” Natsu pulled Gray’s face to his, his hand on the back of Gray’s neck, holding gently to his hair as he pressed his lips against Gray’s, kissing him softly and pulling him closer holding him tightly as though the world was crashing before his feet.

As the last shreds of Natsu’s sight faded, pulling away from Gray he whispered in a graveled voice, “I love you Gray.” before sprinting away into the forest, leaving Gray alone at the camp.


	6. Natsu on Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Note: This chapter mentions blood, skin peeling off, and burning flesh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what happens when I'm allowed to let loose and write anything even close to gore (although I reigned it in A LOT).

Run. 

That’s all Natsu could think as he bolted through the woods. Run. Get as far away from Gray as possible before the poison took its hold. He’d once witnessed the effects the sting of a Shitsumei Bug had had on a woman, the way she had slowly gone blind, screaming as the area around the sting had become gruesomely disfigured. 

The last thing he wanted was for Gray to have witness that. 

Struggling for breath, he hurtled through the forest at a breakneck pace, trying to put as much distance between him and Gray as possible before he collapsed. 

Tripping over a tree root, he came crashing down to his hands and knees, feeling the sharp sting of rocks in his palm. He felt like his lungs were slowly collapsing in on him, constricting. Coughing, he grabbed at his throat.

He felt something warm and wet on his lips. He didn’t need his sight to know that it was blood, red and warm, that was coming up from his throat with each cough. 

Heaving himself to his feet, using a nearby tree for support, Natsu continued to stumble through the foliage. He was becoming disoriented, losing track of time. How long had he been running? It felt like it had been a lifetime, but it couldn’t have been more than a minute at most. He no longer remembered why he was out in the forest or why he was running. All he knew was that he had this intense, burning desire to run, to put distance between himself and - and what? 

Lunging through a particularly dense bit of brush, his face getting scratched by the low hanging branches, he felt the ground disappear from underneath him. 

Arms pinwheeling, legs flailing, he fell. How far, he couldn’t guess, but when he hit the ground is was with a loud thud. 

His back, his arms, his legs, his head, all of it hurt. Yet, nothing compared to the pain that was bubbling up from his stomach, overwhelming him as it seemed to surround his brain, crushing all his other thoughts, wringing them out slowly until only one thought remained: Someone please make this pain end. 

Natsu felt like the poison he had ingested was boiling inside his bloodstream, rushing up through his throat, and escaping through his pores. He was soaked in sweat, screaming, as each bead of sweat that bubbled up to the surface of his skin and slid over it felt like fire racing its way over his body. He felt like he was being consumed in flames. He was also vaguely aware of the smell of burning flesh and the distant sound of his own delirious rambling.

It felt like worms were crawling around in his face, poking holes in the surface of his skin. Despite how stiff his arms felt, he managed to reach up to grab at his face, to wipe them away. Instead, he grabbed skin. He grabbed bloody scraps of skin that tore away from his face in his hands. 

Alone in the forest, he screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please go check out K.A.R.D's song "Oh Na Na" (I recommend the dance practice video because their dancing is great!).

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the weird ending guys but the next chapter will start off right from this point. ~KatsiaDreyar


End file.
